The Leadership Moment

Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All

Michael Useem

Foreword by Warren Bennis

Are you ready for the leadership moment?

Merck’s Roy Vagelos commits millions of dollars to develop a drug needed only by people who can’t afford it · Eugene Kranz struggles to bring the Apollo 13 astronauts home after an explosion rips through their spacecraft · Arlene Blum organizes the first women’s ascent of one of the world’s most dangerous mountains · Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain leads his tattered troops into a pivotal Civil War battle at Little Round Top · John Gutfreund loses Salomon Brothers when his inattention to a trading scandal almost topples the Wall Street giant · Clifton Wharton restructures a $50 billion pension system direly out of touch with its customers · Alfredo Cristiani transforms El Salvador’s decade-long civil war into a negotiated settlement · Nancy Barry leads Women’s World Banking in the fight against Third World poverty · Wagner Dodge faces the decision of a lifetime as a fast-moving forest fire overtakes his firefighting crew

About the Author

Michael Useem

Michael Useem is director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management and William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Leadership Moment, Investor Capitalism, and The Go Point, among other books. The Leadership Moment was included in The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, written by the publishers of 800 CEO Read, and listed as one of the 10 best leadership books on the Washington Post “Leadership Playlist.” Useem’s articles have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Fast Company, Financial Times, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. ... More